Please allow me to introduce myself
If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...” the answer’s NO and The Uplifters will prove it to you. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives.
Every month I host a Lift & Be Lifted session for The Uplifters Podcast Substack paid subscribers. We start by introducing ourselves, and it feels like it’s high time we all do that here. I’ll start (since I promised last week that I’d bet on myself as big as I bet on everyone else I care about).
Hi! I’m Aransas Savas, host of the Uplifters Podcast and the Experience Strategy Podcast (with experience economy legends Joe Pine and Dave Norton), and the author of this Substack. I host an annual conference called Uplifters Live, annual reset retreats at the end of each year, and I’m writing a book, Courage Capital: It’s Not Too Late to Do Big, Brave Things (Hachette GCP Balance, 2027). I’m on a mission to uplift uplifters, women who are driven to support and serve.
I spent the last 25 years living in New York City with my husband Andy (a 16-time Emmy award-winning ABC news producer), our two teenage daughters Savannah (a writer of music and films) and Derby (a poet), a short-legged, sleepy pup named Arlo, and a rather needy 200-year-old sourdough starter we call The Laramie Mother. Then in 2024, I put “work from the beach” on my vision board. Now I live on the Jersey Shore and still spend lots of time in the city, including serving on the board of 826NYC, a nonprofit that helps kids of all means gain the skills to write their stories. Six years ago, at a time when most days felt far from dreamy, a coach asked me to describe my perfect day. Today, I’m living it.
I have worked as a coach and behavioral researcher for over 20 years. I’m triple certified in neuroscience and multiple change methods, including Tiny Habits, NLP, and neuroleadership. I spent 18 years at one of the world’s leading wellness brands. I’ve done research for Disney, Best Buy, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Clayton Homes, Avery Dennison, Fiserv, the Transformation Travel Council, and dozens of others. All of it was built around one obsession: how do people move from thinking and indecision to action?
This is the same question that drives my work as a business and life coach for midlife women doing big, brave things.
The women I work with want to make a big difference and live a rich, full life. They come to me because they’re stuck in the gap between thinking and doing. Should I do this or that? Am I going to regret this decision? How do I actually do this? What’s the right path for me for right now?
For founders, CEOs, and creatives, figuring out these big questions alone inside our little purpose bubbles can feel nearly impossible. Most coaches and advisors stand outside that bubble, looking in. I get in it with my clients.
I use coaching paired with behavioral research to move them from thinking and indecision to action. The coaching helps with the mental blocks and hurdles. And instead of guessing at strategy, we design structured learning experiments that help them see what’s working and what isn’t for them and their clients, so they move from spinning on questions to building on answers.
Clients who work with me don’t just get me. They get our whole community of Uplifters. I’m often called a creative matchmaker. I love getting my hands dirty and weeding through the messiest challenges with my clients, connecting them to others who have been there, and finding creative solutions that help them stay in their zone of genius. Uplifting others and their dreams is my zone of genius.
My 12-week accelerators are 1:1 engagements designed to take big, brave things to the next level. Some of the things we’ve done in these 12-week accelerators:
Written, booked, and delivered TED and keynote talks
Shaped cohesive personal narratives for speaker pitches and podcast guest pitches
Launched and monetized Substacks, courses, and entire brands
Designed “portfolio” careers that blend and balance coaching, creative, and consulting gigs
Built clear, compelling stories from decades of wonderfully not-so-linear experience
If that sounds like what you need, or you know someone who does, just hit reply.
Now, allow me to introduce the women from our last Lift & Be Lifted, along with their asks of the Uplifters community.
Susannah Ludwig is a relationship and resilience coach helping women navigate divorce, new relationships, and what comes after. She’s looking for a referral to an abundance mindset coach to work with one-on-one.
Melanie Cohen helps women clear the clutter from their lives, physical, mental, calendar, emotional, all of it. Two asks: referrals to women who feel overwhelmed and could use support clearing clutter from their lives, and podcast guests who talk about clutter in any form.
Rachel Josephson curates Fils et Poisson, a microboutique of artisan jewelry, accessories, and clothing. She’s looking for ideas, venues, and connections for in-person pop-up opportunities in NYC.
Alessandra Iavarone is a writer working on a collection of personal essays and short stories, two already published in Jenny Magazine and Sneaker Wave (🎉). She’s looking for introductions to editors, zines, and publications to submit her work to.
Nia Bonson is the founder of Mavenhood Society, a community and digital magazine for empty-nester and child-free women in their 40s and 60s. She’s looking for Instagram follows and reposts, and writers who want to contribute to the digital magazine @ mavenhoodsociety.com
Linda Jermacans is launching Oyva in September, a hormonal supplement line for women with endometriosis, PMOS, and perimenopause. Two asks: introductions to women with endometriosis willing to trial Oyva’s Trinity set before the September launch, and Instagram follows and reposts on @oyvaofficial.
Jessica Hansen is a voice coach and voiceover artist. She’s looking for a literary agent for her practical nonfiction book, At Home In Your Voice: Build a Voice You Love to Live In. She’s also open to voiceover referrals, especially audiobook and documentary (jessicahansen.net), and voice coaching referrals (sigsound.net).
Jess Kaplan is an actor, writer, and podcaster. Her podcast, Nopes + Dreams, is about creativity and rejection. She’s looking for creative connections anywhere, especially South Florida, and a literary agent for her nonfiction book based on her one-woman show.
Tracy Siri is building the Family Legacy Program. Two asks: people willing to take the AI assessment at elevatemy.ai, and honest feedback on the Family Legacy Program app via the demo site.
Asking for support is probably the hardest part of being an Uplifter. We are so great at lifting everyone else up, so here we make a pact to also ask others to lift us up. If you’re able to help support these asks, reply to me to connect or reach out to them at the links above.
Now, tell me about you. I spent a lot (probably too much) time writing my intro. But that doesn’t mean this needs to be so hard. What’s something that you worked on this month? It doesn’t have to be the be-all-end-all-forever-put-a-ring-on-it thing, just something. If you’re reading on the Substack app, introduce yourself in the comments. If you’re reading via email, I’d love to learn more about you by hitting reply.
Become a paid subscriber to join our next Lift & Be Lifted, weekly Co-Working Cocoons, and community WhatsApp. And if you’re looking for a coach and collaborator to help you take your big, brave thing to the next level, just hit reply. I’d love to connect.
If you could use some dedicated time to get clear on what you actually want and get ready to make it happen, snag a spot at our next reset retreat. It sells out every year, and for good reason.
Kristy Jeansonne, who has attended for the last two years, puts it this way: “I will never not attend this retreat. Everything I put on my vision board and the plans I make there change the entire year for my business and my life. Instead of spending the first six months trying to figure out my priorities, I launch into the year refreshed and ready to go.”
If you’ve been humming the lyric, “Please allow me to introduce myself” since you read this subject line, here ya go: